Samson Kambalu

Nyau Cinema

Samson Kambalu's short films, collectively titled 'Nyau cinema', are based on spontaneous site-specific performances. Inspired by the Gule Wamkulu (the Great Play) which has been celebrated by the Chewa in the masquerade culture of Malawi, his country of birth, Kambalu approaches filmmaking as an occasion for critical thought and sovereign activities - quirky, playful and often transgressive acts aimed at expressing a radical subjectivity with which the artist regards the world. Nyau cinema employs the medium of film and the psychology and geography of urban areas and their vicinities as catalysts for dramatic self-transformation where the self is playfully reconceived as part of a larger scheme of things, transcending the limitations and conventions of everyday life. 'Nyau' is a Chewa word for 'excess'.

The catalogue features selections of films screened at Stevenson, Johannesburg (September 2014) and Cape Town (December 2014), and All the World's Futures, 56th Venice Biennale (May to November 2015). It includes a lengthy interview with Kambalu about his practice, conducted by Kabelo Malatsie and Marc Barben.